“The greater blue violets
flutter on the hill,
but who would change for these
who would change for these
one root of the white sort?”

~ Excerpt from “Sea Violet,” by H.D.

It wasn’t until after noon that I walked and found the white violets in bloom at the edge of the yard near the trail to the woods. I was with my daughters. They found me in my small office, “Are you coming?” I had just finished leading my Farm Pond Writer’s workshop online. I was so glad they waited and beckoned me out. I had not walked earlier because I needed time to prep for my workshop, so Charlie pouted. But my workshop was certainly worth the preparation. The prompt I created, on reverence, was very successful and sparked some wonderful writing and sharing. Rarely do I write from my own prompts during a workshop, as I want to focus full on the role of facilitating and not be distracted. But, today it was as if I had written just the right prompt for myself as well. I got a very rough draft down of a new poem, inspired by a picture I took of a green clay bowl I took at Georgia O’Keeffe’s home in Abiquiu when I visited some years ago. I grabbed a half a sandwich and put on my boots, so eager for this time with them. It was muddy and sunny and chilly. We gave each other time to share problems we needed to solve. We saw a weasel in the river and a snake and a frog, legs and arms splayed, face up in a puddle, its green mossy body disintegrating. And yes, problems were solved. We were good listeners. We walked for a long time, covering a lot of ground. To have this, after the growing up years, to have this unity and synchronicity and understanding is remarkable. Always hoped for, during the most trying times. Fruition. Once home, I returned to work on the poem, to bring it to a poetry peer workshop I meet with twice a month. So, the rest of the afternoon goes into writing and sharing and critiquing poems. And I’m startled by my unusual poem, and happy to explore it, and find the secret reveal. Then, dinner. And my daughter had done all the prep, I was grateful. It was a day of sunshine. It felt lovely to be out of the rain.